Gēmu (The Game)
by Der Sensenmann
Summary: I hate this town, I hate my school, I hate my father, I hate the people that surround me. There are, however, a select few worthwhile people here. And now I have to avoid alienating every last one of them. But surviving this last year of High school can't be that difficult, It's all just a game we play. AU without Nagisa/Fuko - Rated T for language and suggestive content
1. Beginnt

My life is meaningless. I'm a useless, talentless student who will never do anything with his life. My name is Tomoya Okazaki, and I am really just a piece of shit.

I'm stuck in a town full of nobodies, going to a school full of tools, and living in a home with just myself and a worthless drunk. That drunk is, naturally, my father. My mom died a long time ago in an accident, and ever since my relationship with my dad has been... strained, to say the least. Thankfully I don't spend too much time at home, I spend the majority of most nights at my friend Youhei Sunuhara's place in the boys dorm. Honestly, Sunohara is a bit of a prick most of the time, but deep in there somewhere, he's a genuinely nice guy. A dumb guy, but a nice one.

After spending most of the night at the dorm, I then head back home, my father is usually either asleep, passed out, or gone by then. I'll sleep longer than I should, then show up to class late, if at all.

I'm what you would call a delinquent, though frankly I don't give a shit what you call me. some people have tried to reform me in the past, but they all end up pissed at me and stop eventually. Teachers, old friends, some scattered adults, they all lose interest eventually. Who can blame them? It's boring here, in this life.

I woke up late as usual. For a while I simply laid in bed, contemplating whether or not to attend school that day. Eventually I decided upon the first of the two, put on my uniform and headed to school. The path was empty, with the occasional frantic student running full sprint toward the school. I took my time. I have to admit the path itself was pretty, it was a path of light grey brick, but it was framed by rows of beautiful cherry trees on both sides. It was the one place in this town that I actually liked.

The morning bell rang in the distance. The school was in sight, but my pace remained the same. I had no one to please by being there on time. The teachers had given up on me long ago. Hell, the only person who cared _at all _ might not even be there. But nonetheless, I proceeded down the path to Hikarizaka high school.

It wasn't a particularly pretty or ugly building. It was blocky, but very clean, so all in all I can't complain about the aesthetics. It's the inside that counts right? Well the insides are filled with people just as meaningless as me. Even with their dreams, they will all live and die in this town. Maybe a select few will escape and go on to do better things, good luck to them. As for the rest of us, we have no hope, no reason.

I eventually found my first class, Modern Literature. As I entered very few looked at me as if anything was out of order. They were used to it. One girl did look my way with concern however. Her short hair was a light shade of purple, with a small hairpiece on a strand to the right of her face. Her blue eyes seemed to plead with me, _"Why are you late again!? This is bad for you, you know that!" _Normally I'd be very annoyed at someone expecting such things of me, but Ryou Fujibayashi was different. She was a nice girl, one of genuine good intent. She was a worrier, but she was often too shy to reprimand anyone. I suddenly felt a wave of guilt wash over me, _I must cause her so much trouble. _I prefer it when my actions affect only me. It makes life simpler, and I don't wish to drag anyone down with me, especially not Fujibayashi. She was one of the few people I believed could make it out of here, I hope she does.

I averted my eyes from hers, I didn't need more guilt on my mind. I then turned to Sunohara. Thankfully there was no guilt to be felt in his bleached hair or blue eyes. I proceeded to take my seat in the far left corner, next to the window. "Hey, Okazaki." I turned to see Sunohara's characteristic mischievous smirk. "It looked like Fujibayashi was eyeing you up a bit there, huh?" I snorted, that was ridiculous. "Shut up Sunohara, the answer is no, I do not like her." Sunohara didn't look like he believed me. We spent a while in silence, Eventually the bell for lunch rang. I made to stand up, but Sunohara elbowed me to get my attention. "Here she comes." he whispered.

Sure enough, Fujibayashi walked up to me, the same concerned look in her eyes. "You know, Okazaki, It would be really nice if you came to school on time everyday." she tried to sound casual, but worry rang through her words. I smiled, "Who are you, the class president?" I teased. "Well... yes." _Oops, I forgot about that. _"Hey! Don't make her cry! Then we'll have her sister on our asses too!" Sunohara called out, he looked around frantically, as if expecting her to jump out at him. "Don't worry I'm fine. Really!" Fujibayashi said, though her tone indicated that she was _not. _I tried to think of something to politely wave her off, "It's ok, I'll come on time tomorrow, I promise." She frowned, dissatisfied, and pulled out a deck of cards. "What are you doing?" I asked, "Telling your fortune, it's a hobby of mine." She attempted to shuffle the cards but lost her grip. The cards flew out of her hands and fluttered everywhere. I bent down to help pick them up but Fujibayashi stopped me, she seemed deep in thought. She looked back up at me, "No you won't! It says you'll be late again! You will have a romantic encounter, lose track of time, and come to school late!" Tears began welling up in her eyes.

As if on cue, a large textbook came flying at my head at high speed, a sure sign of her sister, Kyou Fujibayashi. Her long purple hair swung around her as she stormed into the room, her purple eyes full of malice. "Tomoya Okazaki you stay the hell away from my sister!" She grabbed me by the tie and yelled at my face, "If you were picking on my sister I am going to kill you!" Honestly, I believe she would. Ryou stepped in between us, "No sister it's ok he wasn't doing anything!" I couldn't help but notice how close she was to me, but I attempted to focus and back up the argument, "Yeah we were just talking!" Kyou seemed to calm down, "Oh, alright then." she attempted to step back but slipped on one of Ryou's cards, landing hard on her backside. I averted my eyes, knowing full well what just became exposed. Kyou blushed deep red and got up, swearing. "Goddamn, so you were telling fortunes again Ryou?" Ryou blushed an even deeper shade of red. "Yes, I was." she sounded somewhat ashamed. Kyou smirked, "Well, spill it Okazaki, what's gonna happen to you?" I considered making up some fantastical destiny for myself, but I realized that and the real prediction would be just as likely. "Apparently I'm going to have some kind of romantic encounter." Kyou's smirk became an almost Grinchy smile. "What's up with that face?" I asked. "Never you mind, good luck with your 'encounter' lover boy." Kyou made air quotes with her fingers as she said that. She laughed a witch like laugh and walked off.

Ryou hung her head, "Sorry about that Okazaki, my sister gets a little too overprotective at times." I smiled, "It's alright, as long as I can still dodge those textbooks it's fine." Ryou giggled, and then blushed again. _This family sure seems to do a lot of blushing. _"Hey, Okazaki." Her shy voice was just a faint whisper, "Would you like to have lunch with me?" She looked up at me, like a puppy seeking attention. I was slightly taken aback, _This is kind of sudden, but why the hell not? _"Sure." I responded. Her eyes lit up, just like a puppies. "Ok, follow me!" She exclaimed.

* * *

She led me to a mostly empty courtyard. A couple of trees framed by well-trimmed bushes acted as a centerpiece to the yard. Around the bushes there was a circular stone bench, and upon it sat Kyou Fujibayashi. Instinctively I got ready to duck. However, Kyou only smiled. She seemed to be in a good mood for now. kyou even waved to us, as we approached. "Hey Ryou! Okazaki! Come sit!" Ryou ran over an sat next to Kyou, motioning for me to follow. I sat next to the sisters cautiously, they were being unusually nice to me. We all engaged in some awkward small talk for a while, but we were interrupted as a group of juniors ran past us excitedly. "This should be interesting!" one of them shouted. Curious, I got up ands started to follow them. "Okazaki!" Ryou called out to me. I turned, she had stood up, with a miserable look in her eyes. "What?" I called back. She lowered her gaze to her feet. "Nothing." she said, sounding defeated. I proceeded to run back in the direction of the juniors.

As I heard the sound of... revving engines? They had run to the stands of the baseball field. A small crowd had gathered, in it I spotted a blonde head cheering. _Sunohara. _I ran over to him. "What's going on?" He simply pointed to the field. To bikers were riding around on motorbikes on it, kicking up sand as they drove. A silver haired girl I didn't recognize was walking toward them. "This is gonna be great!" he exclaimed. "Sunohara! What's happening!" I asked again, louder this time. "It's an attack upon us! These rival students have come to dethrone us from our pedestal of greatness." That's Sunohara, dramatic as always. I pointed to the girl. "What is she doing?" Sunohara squinted to see, "I don't know, I'd guess she's going to scold them or something." _I can't let her just get beaten up there alone, I should help. _I began to take off my jacket and walk toward the field. "Are you gonna try to help her?" Sunohara sounded surprised. I sighed, "I can't just sit back and watch." "She doesn't need any help you know." I turned to my right to see a group of underclassmen, by the looks of them just having come from gym class. "That's Tomoyo Sakagami, she can handle this." one of them said. "Huh?" I hadn't heard this name before. "Don't you know her?" another underclassmen chimed in, "She transferred here as a junior. She's really super strong!" Yet another underclassmen turned and spoke, "Yeah, if you butt in you'll only get in her way." "But she's outnumbered, those guys will eat her alive out there!" I shouted.

It was too late. The bikers charged, the one on right yelling as he did so. In less than a second, all men were dismounted and one of the bikes destroyed, with Tomoyo Sakagami unscathed. "Holy balls!" Sunohara yelled, _mature as always. _I was astonished, _this girl really is something. _

* * *

Back in the courtyard, Kyou and Ryou still sat at the stone base of the tree. Kyou appeared to be comforting Ryou about something, but as they saw me approach they immediately stopped and simply sat quietly. It was suspicious, but I decided not to pry into it. "What was that whole thing about?" Ryou asked, refusing to look up from her shoes "A couple of bikers got beaten up by some girl named Sakagami." I replied. "Oh. Ok." _No, I'm too curious now, I have to pry. _"Whats wrong?" Ryou finally looked up at me, but just as quickly looked away. "It's nothing. Don't worry about it." I looked over at Kyou giving me an _I'll kill you _look and decided not to pry any the bell for the next class rang.

English, completely unnecessary for me as I probably won't ever leave this town, let alone this country. I looked out the window and my mind started to drift. _I wonder what was wrong with Ryou? Was it something to do with me? __And who is this Tomoyo girl? Why haven't I heard of her before? _

My contemplation was suddenly interrupted I felt a small ball of paper hit my face. I turned to Sunohara, the obvious culprit. "Psst, Okazaki! Come with me after this class!" I sighed and turned back toward the window. Ultimately, I knew I would follow him. Although often humiliating or stupid, time spent with Sunohara was almost always interesting. Of course, it's not like I had anything better to do either.

* * *

After the class Sunohara dragged me around the hallways until finding a familiar face. _The silver-haired girl from the baseball field. _I stepped back, better to keep my distance on this one. I more or less zoned out for the discussion, only returning my attention when Sakagami slammed her foot into Sunohara's chest, sending him flying backwards. "And don't come back again." Was all she said before she turned and walked away. "Damn her!" Sunohara exclaimed, sobbing on the ground.

Unfortunately the rest of the day was uneventful. The classes dragged on for an eternity. As usual, I paid no attention. Finally the day ended. I decided to relax in my usual post school day spot. A patch of grass under the shade of a tree near the exit from the school. I laid down the shade of the tree and closed my eyes, hoping to clear my mind from the events of today. My head was spinning, and I wasn't very sure why. Today hadn't been particularly strange or eventful, but nonetheless I couldn't shake a feeling of dread.

"Okazaki!" Once again my thoughts were interrupted. I opened my eyes and sat up. It was Ryou. "Oh, hey Fujibayashi." I smiled, I was glad to see her. She was a well needed break from the chaos of some other people. We sat together there for a while. Unfortunately I had little to offer in the ways of conversation. But I was happy to listen, even if she was just talking about her day. But as with every single moment of peace that day, it too was interrupted.

"What are you two lovers up two?" It was Kyou, naturally. Both my and Ryou's face turned the shade of Beni shōga. "No! That's not it at all Kyou we were just talking!" Ryou insisted. Kyou cocked her head to the side, and smirked. "Talking huh? Alone? In the romantic shade of a tree?" "Don't you have anything better to do?" I asked of her, my face still burning red. "Not really." Kyou replied. "It's getting late though." Kyou turned to address Ryou, "If you come home tonight missing clothing or not at all, then I will kill Tomoya." "Hey! I'm right here!" I said indignantly, "We won't do anything! It's not like that!" Ryou joined in. Kyou turned her back on us. "My statement stands." she said as she walked away.

Ryou turned back to me, "Sorry about that, my sister is kind of suspicious of you." "Why? What did _I _do?" I asked, surprised. "I don't know." _And there she goes, looking at her shoes. Must be a nervous tic or something. _I smiled. _She's kinda cute actually... Wait what!?_ I shook the thought from my mind. Looking up, I saw that the sun had already set. "It's late. We should probably get going." Ryou looked up. "Yeah, we should. Who knows what Kyou will do if you go out with me too late." Ryou gasped, as if unaware that she had spoken, and wishing she hadn't been. Confused as usual, I let the strangeness of her actions pass. We both got up and went our separate ways. I decided to take the long way home. I probably wouldn't even end up home anyways. I'd slept on park benches before just to avoid my father. But I felt no need for such extremities tonight. Maybe I'd call up Sunohara and we could have a night on the town, steal a little sake and make some bombs* with soda. _Or maybe you could be a good boy for one night. _I thought to myself. _But what fun is that? _

*(Sake bombs are made by combining sake with beer generally, but also have been often mixed with high caffeine drinks such as soda or red bull.)

* * *

**A/N: Just in case anyone cares, just because I have published a new fanfic doesn't mean I am abandoning my previous project, Getsumen No Ushiro. I actually intended to make this a short or a one-shot. A simple exercise to help me work at combining my introspectives with humor, purely for the purpose of helping me with Getsumen, but it flourished into a much larger concept, and I had to do it credit. Hope you guys enjoy!**

**-Der Sensenmann**


	2. Stürzen

_No fun at all, that's what fun it is. _

I had decided to stay sober that night, and simply wandered around a while. I knew the town like the back of my hand, for better or for worse. It was almost soothing, no one was around, there was little noise at all. _Maybe this town would be better if it was empty. _As it was, however, I grew weary of wandering. There's only so much can do alone. And I certainly was alone No matter who I was with, I kept to myself. I don't open up. I don't let people in. That's not to say I'm lonely, I manage at least as well as anyone else here does. It doesn't really matter, Everyone I know who is worth a damn will manage to leave here. In the end I'll just be alone. There's no point.

Finally, I reached my house. _Not my home, _I insisted to myself. I entered the living room, and as expected, among a pile of rubbish in the corner, my Dad was passed out. Most likely drunk, nothing out of the ordinary here. Nonetheless, as I looked down at his clueless face, I wanted to kick his nose in for being so pathetic. _Better not, you didn't do well in the last fight, _I reminded myself. I rubbed my shoulder absently, it had been wounded for a couple of years now. A long while ago my Dad had gotten violent after a night of drinking. He hit me badly in my right shoulder, I can barely raise that arm now.

A sudden rage came over me. I clenched my fists, ready to strike at the passed out drunk. But just as quickly as the anger came, it dissipated. Replaced by a feeling of defeat. _What good would that do? He wouldn't care. You'd probably just get arrested or something. _I sighed, it had been a long day. I needed to get some sleep.

* * *

I woke up relatively early the next day, and decided maybe to go to school on time for once. _Maybe prove Ryou's prediction wrong while I'm at it. _I smiled at the though, but I suppose it would be somewhat cruel just to spite her like that. _Maybe I should just do her the favor, after all when I come late it makes her look bad. _I made up my mind, I'd go on time, just for once. I ate, showered, put on my uniform, and headed out. _Weird feeling following the rules. _

As I walked down the road to school, I heard the sound of a small engine behind me. _More bikers? _But I had little time to dwell on the thought. "Tomoya!" someone shouted, presumably from the vehicle. I turned to see one of the Fujibayashi's, I couldn't make out which, on a bike headed right for me. "Move!" she shouted. I dove to the right to avoid the collision, narrowly missing the purple haired girl, who then crashed into a pole. I quickly recovered and stood up. "What the hell Fujibayashi!" I turned, It was Kyou. I should've guessed, Ryou didn't seem like one daring enough to ride a bike.

"Ow!" Kyou winced as she held her shoulder. I knelt next to her on the ground. "Are you ok?" As soon as I asked she snapped out of pain and into anger. "You should've been more careful!" She shouted. "I should be careful!? You're the one who almost ran me over!" I shot back, somewhat bewildered. Kyou, sighed, then burst out laughing. "To be perfectly honest, I'm not the best with bikes anyway. I just got my license last week." She got up and propped the bike up, examining it. "Hmm, looks fine." she said, satisfied. "Guess you're getting off easy now, you won't have to pay me for damages or anything. Consider yourself lucky." "Really?" I replied, raising an eyebrow. "Consider _your_self lucky that I won't have you arrested." Without another word, and looking slightly alarmed, Kyou got back on her bike and sped off to school.

"Is it just me or are all the girls we know really dangerous." Sunohara walked up behind me, with his usual smirk. "Well, look who's being a good boy today. Trying to impress someone?" I teased. "As a matter of fact yes. Speaking of dangerous girls..."

Before I knew it we were once again in the hallway, with Sunohara "confronting" Sakagami. "You don't give up, do you?" She asked. Sunohara clenched his fists, "I was just warming up yesterday. I'm a little rusty you know, even the best fights mess up when they haven't fought in a while." Sunohara presented his argument as a winning retort, but simply came off as in denial. "Please go away, I have things to do." Skagami seemed to genuinely not want to fight him. "I'm pretty sure you walk to school so you'll need your legs. Walk away now, and you can keep them." Sunohara looked scared for a second, but returned to his cocky self. "Let's see who won't have legs after this." To my surprise Sakagami then turned to me, "Hey you, would you vouch for me that this was self-defense." I smiled, "Believe me, I'm as against this as you are, it's just too fun to watch." Sunohara, enraged by this, leapt toward Sakagami. But as expected, was met with repeated kicks to the chest. He fell back, and didn't get up. Sakagami ran over to her victim, "Oh no did I kill him!?" Panic rose in her voice. "He's fine." I said without a second glance. Sakagami regained her composure and turned to me. "Well we can't just leave him passed out in the hallway. What do we do with him?" I looked around spotted a nearby trash chute. I pointed to it, "That'll do." She turned to me, an oddly disappointed look in her pale blue eyes. "Is that going too far?" she sounded genuinely concerned. "He'll be fine, he's small but resilient." Sakagami sighed. "I wish he'd just let this go." She turned to walk away, but stopped and addressed me, "The two of you, bring back a little o=bit of nostalgia you know." "Huh?" But I was left puzzled, as she turned back to the hallway and walked off without another word.

After the violent exchange between Sunohara and Sakagami, I decided to find somewhere more tranquil. I passed the library, I had seldom entered it before, and was curious. I used to enjoy reading, but my Dad was constantly moving from job to job, and we couldn't afford books. I gave up on literature back in middle school, and had hardly spent any time in libraries since.

I walked in and looked around, the place seemed empty enough. _I could probably just take a nap in here. _I turned to my left and jumped back in surprise. A girl with light purple eyes and similarly colored hair with four orange beads in it was kneeling barefoot on the floor amongst a pile of books. She seemed oddly familiar, but no name came to mind. I stood, puzzled for a while. Only when she put scissors up to one of the pages in one of her books did I say anything. "Hey! You can't do that." She looked up from the book, and looked confused, as if what she had done was completely normal, and I was the odd one here. I floundered for words, "That's a library book you can't just cut it up like that." Inside I laughed at myself, _Going to school on time, reprimanding someone for breaking rules, what's happening to you Tomoya? _Her eyes bore into me expressionless.

I sighed and looked and the potentially victimized books. They were advanced textbooks, far beyond anything I knew. They were advanced even for the smart people he knew. _Hmm... either a genius or someone who hates them, by the look of things. _"Why are you here? And why are you barefoot? Why..." I stopped myself. The girl didn't seem like she'd answer. Without apparent reason, she picked up a small pink container and opened it, her lunch box. "I made this all by myself." She picked out a particular item. "I think this came out especially well." "You know you're not supposed to eat or drink in the library right?" _What the hell Tomoya!? What's wrong with you throwing out rules to people! _As I half expected she ignored my statement. "Would you like some?" She asked smiling. I was taken aback. I didn't know her at all, but it seemed rude to refuse, and there was still that inkling of familiarity about her. I sighed, _might as well. _I knelt beside her,

"Ok, if you insist." The girl looking around for a moment, "Oh no!" she exclaimed softly. "What?" I asked. "I only have one pair of chopsticks." The girl looked down, disappointed, as if she had really wanted to share with me. For what felt like the millionth time, I sighed. I decided to just pick out a piece with my hand, much to her surprise. The food was delicious, much to _my _surprise. "It's really good." I said. Her eyes lit up, _damn! I have seen her before, but where? _I stood up, "You should probably get this cleaned up, classes are going to start soon." The same vacant expression. "Is there something else you need to do." She seemed to ignore my last statement again. "See you later." Confused, I turned and left.

* * *

I returned to class, much to Ryou's pleasure. As soon as I sat down she walked up to me, nervous as always. "You're on time! Did you uh... have a romantic encounter?" She attempted to smile, but only looked more uncomfortable. I laughed, "No, but I think I had a paranormal one." I told her of the strange girl in the library. After I had, she seemed to ease up a bit. "Oh, that sounds like that genius girl in class A. Ichinose I think. Yeah, Kotomi Ichinose." _Hmmm, even the name seems familiar. _"A genius huh?" "Yeah! She ranked top ten in every subject on the mock national exams. the teachers let her cut class anytime and study whatever she wants. She's practically a legend here." _Ryou really knows a lot about the people here. _

Then a sudden vengeful thought came to mind. "You should really keep your sister on a leash by the way." "Why? What did she do?" Ryou asked tentatively. "She almost ran me over with her goddamn bi-" I was cut off as Kyou came storming in and in a cascade of purple dragged me out of the room. "Were you about to sell me out in front of your whole class!?" Kyou actually seemed somewhat offended. "I was just gonna tell your sister that you tried to kill w=me with your, hmph!" The last word came out muffled as Kyou placed her hand over my mouth. "Shut up! You're going to get me expelled! You know commuting on a bike is against school policy." After that, the older Fujibayashi through me back into the room. I sat down quietly, but by the looks of it the damage had been done. The word "bi" circulated amount the students, speculating what it meant. suddenly, an even more vengeful thought than the first came to mind. "Okazaki? What was all that with Kyou?" Ryou asked. I tried hard not to smile as I stood up and addressed the class, "Hey everyone, listen up! I found out that Kyou Fujibayashi in class E is bi!" The chatter started up again with this new development. Ryou looked stunned, "What!? And I never knew..." Again, as expected the cascade of purple stormed in, took me by the wrist, and charged out. "You. I'm going to kill you." Kyou was seething, speaking through clenched teeth. "Is it true?" Ryou stood in the doorway, teary eyed. "Why didn't you ever say something? Don't you trust me?" Kyou snapped, "Not you too! It's just the bike, the scooter! The thing I go to school on!"

* * *

Despite the incident with her sister Ryou again asked me to have lunch with her, and despite my own precautions I again accepted. The sisters and I sat in the courtyard, like the day before. However unlike the day before, Kyou was fuming and wouldn't talk to me. there was little chance of small talk because of this. "Why did you do that?" Ryou asked, finally breaking the silence. She kept her voice quiet enough so that Kyou couldn't hear her, although I doubted Kyou cared much. "Partly to teach her a lesson not to ride her bike, it causes problems, and partly cause I was bored." I replied nonchalantly. "I think you actually may have hurt her feelings, I know Kyou acts all tough but..." Ryou leaned in to whisper to me, "Don't tell her I said this, but she's actually really sensitive, especially to you." She sat straight again, a conspiratorial look on her face, "But that's just between you and me, ok?" it was a shock to me, but I smiled nonetheless. "Ok, it's our secret."

Talking to the younger of the Fujibayashi's was nice, Ryou was such a balance to the negativity and chaos of the rest of my life. A nice contrast really. _If that's the case then she and her sister must fit together fantastically. _I laughed aloud, catching the sisters and myself by surprise. "What's so funny?" Kyou asked. It appeared that she had calmed down, though there was still an edge to her voice. I shook off the question, "Nothing." The silence became awkward, and the two sisters began talking privately. I stole a glance at them, only to to see that they were stealing glances at me. It appeared that they were talking about me. _What did I do?_ I wondered. _I know I must've hurt Kyou's feelings a bit but was it really that bad? _I pondered this for a while, but came to know conclusion. I decided to take a walk and clear my head.

* * *

I actually somewhat liked the school building when it was empty, it was a relaxing place to be. It had a sense of peaceful lawlessness to it. I attempted again to ponder Kyou's situation, when I heard... crying? Coming from one of the empty classrooms, it sounded like a girl but I couldn't recognize it. I followed the sound down the hallway, till I found Kyou Fujibayashi, curled up against a wall in one of the classrooms, crying her eyes out. I was too shocked to move. _Kyou doesn't cry! What is this!? _"Kyou?" I called out cautiously. She looked up for a second, noticed me, and got up. "What's... what's wrong?" No answer. She was looking down at her feet. _Just like her sister. _I was beginning to worry now, _is this all from what I said? _"Kyou, if this is about earlier, it was just a j-" I didn't finish. She ran at me, elbowed me out of the way, and ran down the hallway sobbing. _What should I do? _On an impulsive decision, I ran after her.

I finally caught her on the roof, simply standing there, crying. "Kyou... what's wrong, please say something." I pleaded to her whilst trying to catch my breath. "Go away." Her voice was soft, barely audible through her sobs. "I want to he-" "I said go away!" She was yelling now. Kyou collapsed to her knees. "How did you find out?" her voice was soft again. "What?" _Found out what? _She stood up and turned to me. "How did you find out that I was bi!?" I was astonished, "I didn't, I just wanted to... I don't know." Kyou walked straight up to me, her purple eyes boring into me, even through the tears. "You wanted to get me back because of this morning!? Well you did! You really fucked me over Okazaki! Now everyone knows!" My head was reeling, _I didn't know, I didn't mean to, this isn't what I wanted. _Kyou kept on yelling, "Do you have any idea what it's like! Hiding like that! And now every knows." Her voice lost all its anger suddenly. Kyou looked away, towards the sky. "They won't let me live it down. You know how they treat this. This is high school, no one's kind or tolerant here." Kyou walked up to the railing and leaned on it. "I don't know what to do."

Muy knuckles went white from being clenched so hard. I found myself so full of rage at that moment. _You did this Tomoya, this is your fault. _"I'm so sorry Kyou, I didn't know." "It doesn't matter." Kyou sighed. I had never heard her sound so defeated. "Nothing matters anymore."

It all seemed to happen in slow motion, as Kyou climbed up onto the railing.

I ran toward her as fast as I could, my right arm extended.

Kyou began to fall backward.

* * *

**A/N: Not sure how necessary this is, but I just want to state that I honestly don't know how tolerant they are over in Japan, so I used personal experience of how tolerant high schoolers are (not very). I also don't want to give the impression that being Bi or Gay or Lesbian or Transexual or Pansexual is bad in anyway at all. Hope this doesn't offend anyone (except homophobes but screw them they don't matter), and I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**-Der Sensenmann**


	3. Danach

Everything was in slow motion, but happening all too fast. All I could hear was my heartbeat. A grabbed onto something, and for a reason I couldn't remember, I yanked backwards. I felt my back hit concrete, and something fell on top of me. It was warm, and soft, and... _crying. _I regained my sense, _Kyou! She was going to..._ I opened my eyes, but all I could see was purple. _Safe, she's safe. _Kyou seemed to come to her sense as well, and leapt off of me. "I'm... I'm sorry." I stood up, still dazed. "Why?" was all I could muster. Kyou turned to me, "I panicked, I'm sorry. Tomoya, I'm so sorry." She ran to me, and I embraced her. I didn't care about what it looked like, or who might see. Ididn't care about any of it, Kyou was safe.

We stood there in each others arms for what felt like years. Eventually, I became aware of what I was doing and stepped back, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to." Kyou sighed, as if disappointed. "It's ok. It's over I guess." She looked toward the edge. I panicked, thinking she was again going to attempt. But she stood still. "Never, ever again. I don't care who knows anymore." She turned back to me, her usual expression back with a vengeance, "I'm going to live with people knowing, and anyone who says otherwise can go fuck themselves." I smiled, Kyou was back.

The walk downstairs was, to say the least, awkward. Both our faces were blushing the whole way. I cursed myself for my idiotic prioritization, _She just tried to kill herself and all you can think of is how she felt in your arms. _It had been... nice. The feeling that I had... saved her. _Really? That's your excuse? _I shook my head, attempting to clear it from those thoughts. After all the girl they were about was right next to me! I looked over at her, _Still blushing. _I decided to break the silence, "Kyou," she looked up, seemingly happy for an end to the awkward silence. "Are you..." _I don't really know what to say here, _"Are you ok? I mean, you wouldn't try again right?" She looked down, again, ashamed. "No, never again. It was just a stupid impulse. If you hadn't been there..." I refused to think of that alternative.

After far too long of a far too uncomfortable silence, we reached the exit of the school. There Kyou stopped, and faced me. "Thank you Tomoya." She sad, and then embraced me. Quickly, she let go and got on her bike. I watched her drive away, at a loss for words. Too much was going on in my head for me to decipher any of it. It all just spun around in clouds of confusion. I started walking home, walking usually helped me think. But even after hours of walking the streets I came to no conclusions. I didn't even know what I was feeling, shock? Fear? Relief? Anger? Happiness? I didn't understand what was happening to me.

* * *

Normally when thoughts became too much, I would join Sunohara in a bottle of saké, but tonight I just... couldn't. I needed my mind to be clear. I laid in my own bed for once, my father was out, most likely gambling. For whatever reason, I needed to see everything going on in my head, and incoherent. I needed a seat to the madness, to be a spectator to my shock. I couldn't handle it, I needed to see Kyou, to fully take in that she was ok. My mind hadn't comprehended any of it. In my head, she was still falling backwards. I decided, I had to see Kyou. It wasn't too late, and I'm fairly sure I knew where the Fujibayashi's lived. I got up from the bed and made my way outside.

The streets seemed longer than usual, lonelier. The lights all shined too bright, but illuminated nothing. My sense of direction kept me straight, but my vision was far too distorted. _What's the hell is happening? _A feeling I very rarely had began to rise in me. A cold feeling, creeping into my gut and heart. It crawled down my spine, and ran it's ice cold fingers along my skin. _Fear. _I felt my hands begin to shake. My vision was beginning to blur. Before I knew it, I was running. Running to Kyou. _Kyou is falling, _was the only thought that made any sense, _Kyou is falling. _The blurriness overcame me. I couldn't see anything, I collapsed, and felt consciousness slip from me. The last thing I saw was one lit window, and a flash of purple.

I woke up in a clearly unfamiliar area. I opened my eyes but they were still blurry and no good. From what I could tell, I was lying on some bedding with a blanket over me. Two voices were coming from an outside room, a man's and a girl's, _Ryou's. _I sighed to myself, _Damn, what a burden I must have put on them. _I looked towards what I assumed to be the doorway. Just outside it I could make out the form of a girl with short purple hair, Ryou, and a tall man, her father I'd guess. "Rrr oh." I tried to speak, but my tongue was heavy and my words came out garbled and slow. It appeared she had heard me however, and she rushed to my side. "Hey Okazaki, how are you feeling?" My vision was beginning to clear up and I could make out Ryou's face, and the concern in her eyes. "What... hapent?" my speech was still garbled, but Ryou seemed to understand the question. However it was her father that answered. "You had a panic attack, then you ran hear and collapsed. You hit your head bad when you fell. There's a nasty bruise, and you'll have one hell of a headache." I reached a hand to the back of my head to feel it. The whole of my skull lit up with pain, I winced and retracted my hand. "Please don't hurt yourself Okazaki." Ryou pleaded. Another voice came from behind them, "Hey guys! What's going-" Kyou stopped when she reached the doorframe and saw me. "Tomoya! What are you doing here!? What happened!?" She turned to her father, eyes expecting answers. While he explained, Ryou leaned in and whispered to me, "In case you're wondering, Papa is a doctor. That's how he knows all these things." I mustered a smile, "Guess I'm one lucky bastard."

After my head had finally cleared, I attempted to leave, but it was insisted upon that I stay the night and rest. I blushed at the thought, but after repeated attempts, I couldn't refuse. They had already set me up in their guest room, and I had all my school supplies with me still, so I seldom had to move, except to shower. I surmised that the Fujibayashi's were a fairly nice family. Their father was a doctor and their mother a lawyer, so they were quite well off. In addition, they seemed to get along well. Although Kyou seemed somewhat tense with her parents. _Most likely from the stress of today. Given from how they're acting, I'd say she hasn't told them yet. _Night fell, and I attempted to sleep, but failed miserably, there was no way. My thoughts had settled somewhat however, my fear for Kyou had abated. She seemed, if not happy, and least ok with it all.

Someone knocked on my door. "Hey, Okazaki, could I come in for a minute?" It was then I suddenly became very conscious of the fact I had nothing on but boxers. "Hang on a sec!" I replied, searching frantically for clothing. Another knock, "Okazaki? Are you ok in there?" "Yeah, just-" finally I found my jeans and threw them on, but my shirt was nowhere to be found. I took a deep breath, _guess I'll have to do without. _I opened the door. Ryou gasped, "I'm sorry I didn't mean to... um..." She turned her head, blushing. I tried to ignore the fact that my own face was the shade of a tomato, "It's fine, what did you want?" She walked forward and I let her in. As usual when she was nervous, her eyes were fixated on her feet. There was a long, awkward pause. Eventually, Ryou seemed to gather the courage to look up. She looked me directly in the eyes, with her own intense blue ones. It was as if the blood in my face was boiling from such a gaze. "Okazaki..." She stepped in closer. "You know..." She was within arms distance now. "I... I know what happened with Kyou. She just told me an hour or two ago. I didn't want her to feel like she was being talked about, so I waited till she was asleep to come here and..." Her deep blue eyes bore into me, and she stepped even closer now. I could feel her body heat, just barely warming my skin. "I wanted to thank you!" Then, without warning, she threw her arms around me.

I was stunned, unable to move for some time. _Hug her back stupid! _I scolded myself. I put my own arms around her waist. A soft sob escaped Ryou's lips. I looked down. Sure enough, she was in tears. She looked back up at me, "If you hadn't been there, she wouldn't be here! I can never thank you enough!" Then she buried her head in my shoulder, and cried. When she finally had cried herself out, she let go of me and sat against the wall, patting the ground next to her. I sat beside a her and leaned up against the wall. A smile had returned to her face, "You know, weirdly enough, this explains a lot." "What does?" I asked. "The whole Bi thing I mean. She had this friend back in middle school. A girl, with whom she was always very close. " Ryou let out a small giggle. "To tell you the truth, I always wanted them to get together, but Kyou had only ever talked about boys. It saddened me, I don't know where she is now." It saddened me as well, _that would have been sweet, but this town... no, this world, doesn't allow happiness such as that._ Ryou and I sat for a while, talking about what we knew of a younger, happier Kyou. Time passed, and Ryou said goodnight and left. That night was one of the first in a long time that I slept without thoughts of hate and cynicism, and dreamt of happiness.

I was awoken the next morning by Ryou knocking on my door, "Wake up Okazaki! It's time for school!" I moaned, "You're a real mom you know that!" I heard laughter from the other end of the door. "I'll take that as a compliment, now hurry up and get dressed!" So I did, and then departed downstairs. Naturally the Fujibayashi's offered me a breakfast but I declined. "I insist, you must eat Mr. Okazaki." Mr. Fujibayashi pleaded. "No, I mustn't. I've freeloaded quite enough thank you." The middle aged man simply smiled and made a motion of defeat. Ryou, who was busying herself with her things, looked up at the ceiling with impatience. "Hey Okazaki, could you go wake Kyou? I don't think she's up yet." The thought was terrifying, but despite this I walked up to Kyou's door and knocked. No response. I knocked again. And again. Finally I simply opened the door. Kyou was awake alright, and appeared to be scolding... a brown plushie? As soon as the door opened Kyou grabbed the plushie and hid it under her bedding. "Oh hey Tomoya, we should probably get going." She glanced at the clock and swore. "Shit, we're going to be late. I have no money for bus money and..." Her eyes lit up as she turned to me, a maniacal smile upon her face. "Hey Tomoya, have you ever ridden a motorbike before?"

Before I could process what was going on, I was thrown onto Kyou's bike, and told to hold her waist. I hesitated at this command, but resolved that her embrace was better than the asphalts. Soon I found myself on a hot piece of metal going far too fast, grasping Kyou's waist for dear life. The girl was laughing wildly at my reaction, which was only serving to make me more worried. _This girl is a goddamn sadist! _The thought came and went like a bird hit by a windshield, slamming into to me but not lingering long enough to dwell on. When finally the ride from hell was over, I found myself unable to let go of Kyou. "Okazaki!" She whispered angrily, "People will stare if you don't let go!" I regained my composure and flung myself off of her. "Oh yeah, sorry. Well... thanks for the ride I guess." She smiled, "Anytime." _Not for all the money in the world, _I thought.

As per a more comfortable usual, as soon as I entered the school I encountered Sunohara. Whom, as per a less comfortable usual, was plotting against Tomoyo again. "I know why she's so strong! It all makes sense now Okazaki!" I initially tried to sound interested, but my tone collapsed into sarcasm. "Do tell me Sunohara, I'm dying to know the specifics of how you're going to get your ass beat today." Sunohara seemed to ignore this criticism and proceeded with his plan. "There's no way a girl could have beaten me like that-" _Sexist much? _"so I'm just going to prove that Tomoyo Sakagami is a guy in a girls skirt!" I face palmed, afraid of his means to accomplish that goal. "So begins the story of Youhei Sunohara, pervert extraordinaire." Again Sunohara ignored my criticism, all the way till we found Sakagami.

"Hey Sakagami!" Tomoyo immediately stepped back. "Not you again, I'm in no mood for a confrontation." Sunohara simply put on a disturbingly convincing fake smile. "It's ok Sakagami, I just want to talk. You know I woke up real late this morning, and boy what a mess was I!" Tomoyo looked surprised, "Well your attitude seems to have improved at least." Sunohara continued his trend of ignoring other's comments. "I hate some real trouble with the razor though, I'm sure you know how that is. Man doesn't a dull razor sting?" Tomoyo's expression didn't change one bit. "I see." Sunohara continued, unfazed. "So what I've been meaning to ask is, can I borrow your razor?" Tomoyo's expression still remained stone cold. "Why would I let you borrow any razor of mine?" Apparently this is the response Sunohara wished for, as he practically cheered for himself. "Ha! So that means you _do_ have a razor with means you _do_ shave which means you _are_ a guy!" Tomoyo was unimpressed, "No, I'm just wondering why I would ever have to lend you anything of mine." All the joy that had previously inhabited him simply fell from Sunohara. Then, as expected, then came the beating.

I left just before then, I preferred the buildup to the beat up anyways. I wandered the halls a while before coming to the lounge, with a large window overlooking where Kyou, Ryou, and I usually ate. I half expected to see them there, but there were probably doing something more worthwhile than hanging out with a delinquent like me. I kept walking for a while, letting the people around me become a blur. It was somewhat surreal, as I walked alone, but surrounded with people. I enjoyed the experience for some time. But I was even more thankful for the interruption from it.

"Hey Tomoya!" I smiled, _Kyou. _I let her catch up to me, "Do you ever find it weird that we call each other by our first names like this?" I asked. Kyou pretended to consider it, "Well if you'd rather I could call you Tomoya-kun." I blushed, "No! I don't think that'd be necessary. Kyou just laughed at my embarrassment. Again, I couldn't help but smile. _She must be so strong, to go from her state yesterday, to as content as this, she really is quite a girl. _Kyou looked at me, "What are you so happy about?" I shrugged, "Oh noth-" I couldn't finish my sentence due to the face that I suddenly found by face full of floor. Kyou laughed hysterically as I got up. "That's the first time Sunohara has actually made me laugh at someone other then him!" I looked down at what I had tripped on. Sunohara was unconscious on the floor, presumably left there since his meeting with Tomoyo. At that moment, an idea came to mind. An awful idea. A wonderful, awful idea. "Kyou come here" I said excitedly. "What? Why?" I couldn't help but laugh at how I imagined this would turn out. "So when Sunohara wakes up, I want you to-"

* * *

One of sunohara's eyes slowly opened, the other bruised shut. He looked up at Kyou, who was standing over him, and scrambled back, like a beaten puppy. After looking around, he turned back to Kyou and spoke, "Where is everyone?" Kyou let out a maniacal laugh, right on cue. "They're all gone. You're dead Youhei Sunohara! Now you're in Hell!" Sunohara panicked, "What!? I'm so sorry! Please let me go back I'll be good I promise!" Kyou was genuinely laughing now. "It's too late for that!" It was a little harder to take seriously with Kyou laughing but Sunohara ate it all up. "NO! I wanna be good! No!" Sunohara screamed, and then fainted. Kyou abruptly stopped laughing. "Oops, that was a little much."

We decided he'd be fine on his own once the first bell rang. We hurried to class, closely followed by a flustered and very angry Sunohara. Despite my best efforts, as the day progressed, I found myself thinking of Kyou Fujibayashi more and more. _You know what? _I came to a realization, _I don't think I would mind at all if Kyou called me Tomoya-kun. _


	4. Lila, Gebleicht, und Silber

I spent more time then I care to admit with that thought in mind. As usual I ignored what was going on in class, and as usual what was going on in class ignored me. But this time the ignorance was not out of apathy or spite, I actually dwelled upon productive things, or so I liked to think anyways. But as my "productive thinking" slowly degraded into tantalizing, I began to try to think of other things. Nothing really came to mind. I tried to think of saké, the numbing sensation of drunkenness. I tried to think of that song by that British band I liked, "Idiotic"* or something. But I kept coming back to the girl with the long purple hair. Her intense purple eyes, her neat little hairpiece, and her hidden sweetness. I shook my head, trying to clear myself of these thoughts. I felt my face grow hot. Slightly panicked, I put my head down on my desk to hide it. _It'd look weird for me to be blushing in the middle of class for no reason. _Thankfully a distraction came, in the form of a small brown plushie.

"Puhi Puhi!" Half the room looked out the window to the source of the noise, all I could see was a brown plushie curled in the corner of the courtyard among the bushes. "Hey! Return to your seats!" The teacher scolded. Everyone else returned to paying attention, where I remained staring at the plushie. It looked strangely familiar. _Wasn't that what Kyou had hidden from me this morning? _As soon as the final bell rang, I made my way to the courtyard, with a confused Sunohara on my heels. When he finally caught up to me I was searching the bushes where I had seen the "plushie".

Sunohara was flustered and out of breath, "What are you doing? Did you lose something?" he said between pants. I ignored him as I looked through the small spaces between the bushes. Suddenly I felt a warm _something _brush against my legs. I looked down to find the 'plushie". It was a small animal, and it was "too cute!" as Sunohara aptly exclaimed. "Yeah." I agreed, "Puhi, puhi, puhi." the noises seemed almost affectionate, although I was sure the thing hadn't seen me before. I smiled at the little thing, "There's something about him that just isn't there with dogs or cats." Sunohara frowned, deep in thought (here a relative phrase, mind you). "What do you think it is?" He asked. I examined it, "I don't know." Sunohara giggled, tucking his bag in against his side while bending down to pick the animal up. The creature, however, wanted nothing to do with him. It ran around to the back of my legs, but Sunohara was persistent. He managed to pick up the mini-beast and held it. "He isn't very heavy!" He said, a satisfied grin on his face.

In what felt like slow motion, I watched a blue textbook sail through the air, hitting Sunohara square in the forehead, causing him to lose grip on the little animal. The blow was followed by a distinctive battle cry from, the one and only, Kyou Fujibayashi. As soon as I registered who it was she came flying into view, and Sunohara, foot first. the kick sent Sunohara flying back, and I yelled the first question that came to mind. "Hey Sunohara! How was that next to Tomoyo's kick?" Sunohara looked up, enraged. "Is that really what you're going to say to me?" Despite this he seemed to consider the question. "About the same, although this kick had a very rewarding view." It took Kyou a second to realize what that meant. But once she did, she charged over to his crippled form and delivered another blow, directly to the side of his face. "Pervert!" She yelled. "I can't help but agree!" I said, laughing.

The small animal leapt to Kyou and she held it close to her breast. She exhaled, "How dare you! What were you trying to do with my baby!?" _Her baby? I guess that makes more sense than a plushie. _"So that thing is your pet?" Kyou seemed thrilled at the very chance to bring it up. "Yes! And isn't she just the most adorable thing you've ever seen!" I had to agree with that, not that I'd seen many adorable things. Kyou took a moment just to hold her pet before processing my terminology. "And she is not a _thing _Tomoya. She is an Urinko, a baby boar!" I couldn't help but grin at her enthusiasm over it. "Did it sneak in to meet you here?" Kyou sighed, disappointed, "Yeah, didn't you Botan!" _Botan? Oddly affectionate way of calling your pet meat there Kyou! _"Botan hmm? That's a rather delicious sounding name." Thankfully Kyou was too absorbed with her boar to hear that comment. "Come on Botan! Say hi to Tomoya, tell him you want to be his friend." The little pig turned to me, "Puhi, Puhi!" Again, I couldn't help but smile at how adorable the little creature was.

"So at the risk of getting kicked again, what do you guys want to do now?" Sunohara had finally gotten up, but remained a safe distance from Kyou. "Well... I have some things to do... I'll see you guys later." Kyou said as she rushed back in the school, passing an unnoticed Ryou as she did. I felt a small pang of guilt then. I hadn't paid Ryou much attention today, and the girl didn't have many friends. Although this was mostly due to her sister's aggressiveness, her own shyness didn't help. I felt great sympathy for the younger Fujibayashi. She turned, disappointed, to follow her sister back into the school building. "Hey! Ryou!" I almost choked on the words, I was unused to calling her by her first name, I wasn't even sure if she wanted me too. She stopped in her tracks without looking back. _Did I offend her? _But as she turned, her face was one of delight, not anger or indignation. "Hey... um," She looked away, blushing. "Tomoya." I tried very hard to keep my face from flushing too red, "Wanna hang out with us tonight?" I cursed myself at how vulgar I knew Sunohara was going to interpret that.

As expected, Sunohara struggled to hold back laughter, but thankfully Ryou was of a much more innocent mindset. "Do you mean it?" She tried to sound cautious, but failed to hide the enthusiasm in her voice. "Yeah! We've got nothing better to do." Sunohara said spitefully. Ryou looked slightly discouraged, and I shot Sunohara a dirty look. "It'll be fun! We'll have a night on the town." Ryou reverted back to hesitance, "Wait, does that involve... drinking? Or even-" Her face flushed redder than a cherry, "-other things?" I bit my tongue, trying to think of a clever way out of answering that question honestly, but Sunohara beat me to it. "Well generally we'll-" He began, but I hastily cut him off. "We just kinda hang out for a while there's no sake or anything just some friends hanging out!" The words tumbled out of my mouth, not even sounding fully convincing. "Well... if that's just it, then sure!"Ryou said, smiling. _Well that was far more stressful than it needed to be, _I thought. My resolve quaked at the thought of how I would handle the follow-up.

* * *

I found Sunohara and myself some time later at the doorstep of the Fujibayashi's, waiting for Ryou. It had been a notable amount of time, and I was beginning to worry. "Do you think she's gone and stood us up?" Sunohara asked. An abrupt rush of anger flowed through me, accompanied by a slow crawling fear. "No! She wouldn't do that!" I snapped back, a surprising aggression to my voice. Sunohara looked over at me, equally surprised, "Jeez, calm down. It's just a possibility." I refused to acknowledge this. _She is shy though, if she didn't want to go I'm not so sure she'd actually tell us. _Just as I was beginning to panic, I heard the door Fujibayashi stepped out onto the street, dressed in a simple T-shirt and skirt. "Alright guys, sorry that took so long. Are you ready to go?"

Naturally, in our socially inept ways, my first instinct was to head to Sunohara's dorm to pick up some stolen sake. Thankfully, I do occasionally have the gift of thinking twice before I act. "So where do you wanna go Fujibayashi?" Immediately after the words passed my lips I second guessed them. _Shouldn't _we_ be taking the lead here since _we_ asked _her_ to come with _us_? _She considered the question anyway, apparently unaware of such social etiquette. _All for the better, it wouldn't be goods for us to hang around someone who's a tightass about such things. _"I don't know. To be perfectly honest I don't get out as much as I probably should. And when I do I'm always following Kyou somewhere." _Damn, follow-up! Think of a follow-up! _"Well... uh. Where does Kyou take you that wouldn't throw out a couple of delinquents like us?" Ryou laughed softly, but seemed to genuinely consider the question. "I think I might know a place."

We all ended up seated in a booth of some Western styled* burger place. "Hmm. I didn't think Fujiayashi would be one to be fond of Gaikoku* things." Sunohara said, irreverent as usual. I shot him a dirty look for his lack of tact. Thankfully Ryou didn't seem to hear him. "Ok, this place is pretty nice, and not too expensive." I tried very hard to not let out a sigh of relief. I would never call myself stingy, but I recognized that I didn't have much money, and was relieved to retain some of it. We made our way to our small booth. Me and Sunohara sat next to each other and Ryou sat across from us. As usual, she was simply relaxing to talk to, even with the occasional interruptions from Sunohara. But as the night progressed, I started to notice someone watching us from a nearby table. Eventually Sunohara left, and Ryou got up to use the bathroom. I decided this was the ideal time to confront our observer.

Our observer was wearing a white hoodie to hide her face, but a long strand of purple hair with a small white hairpiece gave her away. "Hello Kyou." She jumped as I spoke her name, almost falling out of her chair. "You know if you wanted to keep an eye on Ryou you could've just joined us." Kyou swore at the failure of her disguise. "I just... I didn't want to ruin your night." She looked directly into my eyes, her own full of sadness. "you know me, I ruin these kinds of things." "No you don't! Come on, she'll be happy to see you!" I insisted, waving off her refusal. "No, I can't. She doesn't want me here." I tried to form a rebuttal, but the words wouldn't form, and before I could protest, Kyou had gone.

I returned to the booth to avoid suspicion as Ryou returned. It was just the two of us now, "So..." I remained at a loss for words. _Two socially awkward people in a social setting alone together, great idea. _"Are you and your sister getting along ok?" The question caught even me by surprise. Ryou was taken aback by it, "Yeah, why do you ask? did she say anything?" "No! No she didn't. It's just..." I tried to collect my thoughts into words, "There seems to be a tension between you two." Ryou looked down, "It's nothing." She said, unconvincingly. _She's hiding something, but...It's between them. It's her business. _I let the matter lie, and we spent the rest of the night engaging in other conversations. Soon enough, I found myself at the intersection of the streets leading to our houses. We stopped and turned to face each other. "I had a really good time." "Yeah." I agreed. "We should do this again sometime." And so we parted. I realized, while watching Ryou walk away, that I felt truly content. I was satisfied with this evening, regardless of how awkward it had been for the both of us.

* * *

The next day I found myself, once again, on the heels of Sunohara. Who himself was again on the heels of Sakagami. "You really don't know when your beaten do you?" She asked, neutral as always. Sunohara, also following the usual, ignored Sakagami's comments. "It's nothing like that today. I just wanted to see your pretty face again." Sakagami raised an eyebrow, "Really? I find that quite hard to believe." Again, ignored. Then Sunohara did a double take, and shrieked. :Oh no! I forgot something important for my next class! Sakagami, could you do me a favor to save my ass here?" He pleaded. Sakagami steeped back defensively, but her expression remained unchanged. "I don't know , it depends on the favor." On cue, and without any of the hesitation a logical human being would have, Sunohara proceeded to spring his "trap". "Sakagami, I need to borrow your breasts!" Sakagami placed her arms over said appendage, eyes slightly widened at the crazed request. "Why?" was her only response. "Haha!" Sunohara exclaimed triumphantly, "That reaction means that you can lend me your breasts, which means they're removable!" Sakagami sighed, and proceeded, as usual, to efficiently kick the shit out of Sunohara.

She seemed to go easier on him this time around. Meaning Sunohara was capable of walking away from the encounter by himself. "I won't give up on this. I'll get her for it someday!" I laughed at him, but he seemed determined enough. _Say what you want about Sunohara, you can't keep the little bastard down. Although I imagine it would do him a great deal of good if he referred that determination to other areas of his life. _Despite popular belief, Sunohara had once been very concerned with the future. He had even been rather accomplished in school. Although he was never the smartest kid in class, he had always tried, and managed to consistently achieve fairly good grades too. Sunohara had participated in many clubs, even athletics.

Then he had his "bad year", as I've come to know it. Somewhere near the beginning of our first year at Hikarizaka, he simply shut down. He lost all interest in school, in clubs, in anyone or anything. His grades had been going down steadily for some time, and I think he was having some parental troubles, but it didn't explain that year. Eventually when summer finally came he had moved into the dorm, never even acknowledging there had been a problem. Most of the people who knew had long since dropped it, but I still wondered what had happened sometimes. But what do I know, he's human, and apparently I don't know a damn thing about humans.

* * *

_I really wish my life could decide whether it wants to be serious or stupid._ I guess you could say I'm someone who more often than not just goes with the flow. However this particular flow is getting old fast.

"Why do you keep coming here?" Tomoyo Sakagami asked, sighing as she did so. "Believe me, I've been asking myself the same question." I said under my breath. "Don't worry, I'm going at this from a different angle now." Sakagami rolled her eyes. "That's what you always say." Then Sunohara ran to her, yelling "I swear this time it's different!" only to be sent flying by an unusually powerful single kick. even Sakagami seemed concerned and ran over to see the damage. "Oh God! Are you okay? I accidentally kicked way harder than I meant too!" Sunohara only smiled. "Yeah, that was pretty fine kick, I'll hand it to you." He got up and awkwardly placed an arm around Sakagami and led her back down the hall. "You know after every fight comes the reconciliation." It was at this point I realized where he was taking her, the boys bathroom. Then came a squeal, most likely Sunohara. Apparently Sakagami had noticed this as well.

The enraged silver-haired girl came charging up to me, "Just what the hell is wrong with you!? Trying to coax me into the boys bathroom!? My god, there's just no limit to your harassment!" Although I had simply been a bystander, the words still stung. Sakagami made a noise of disgust and stormed off. With a deep sigh, I called after her, "He just wants to see you go to the bathroom to see if you're really a girl." I spoke softly, but she still heard, and stopped in her tracks. _I'm going to get my ass kicked, _I thought, but continued nonetheless. "He thinks you're far too strong to be a girl, that you're a crossdresser or something. And he wants to prove it."

Sakagami turned to me. I expected to see her face contorted with rage. I instead found myself looking into a pair of very hurt, deep blue eyes. "Is _that _what he thinks?" I was too shocked to reply. Again she turned, a curtain of silver hiding her face. "You know, I'm not just some bully." She sounded close to tears, "And I really thought I'd changed." And with that, Sakagami rounded the corner and walked away, leaving me frozen in the hallway, with an ugly feeling of guilt in my gut.

* * *

***1: idioteque, radiohead. I thought it would be something Okazaki would listen to.**

***2: Just think of an American burger place.**

***3: Refers to foreign things in a derogatory way.**


End file.
